Rent-A-Center

There it is. Yeah, that's not okay. Anyt Look, it might seem We're going to go over some terms. We're going to do some math, and we're going to see what you'really paying when you buy anyt T So if you're a big fan of Renna Center, keep watc I encourage it. Normally I'd say something like Seriously, we're going to go over why the way Renna Center works is simple. One, you buy somet Two, you set up a payment plan and delivery for that somet Three, you make payments every week until you officially own what you buy. That's it. It's very simple, but simple does not mean cheap. Simple does not mean affordable. Simple does not mean financially smart. Simple just means simple. Instead of talking about it, why don't I just show you? We're going to go to RennaCenter. com. The first t I'm going to select the Inglewood Imperial store as it is actually a quicker drive for me than any other store. Now what do we feel For this example, let's go with a want T Renna Center loves weekly payments. It absolutely loves it. It makes the cost of whatever you're buying seem less than what it really costs. T 99 per week. You see that 99 cents part? That's charm pricing. Now I've got a few videos about that as well, but that's not the point of t Back to it at $26. 99 per week for 73 weeks. That's a total cost to own at $1,970. 27. I don't know if you caught that. It's going to take you one and a half years to pay off t 27. The Renna Center, same as cash price, is $863. 80. T You might not be a gamer, so you might not know the cost of a PS5, but I can tell you it's not $1,970. 27. It's not even $863. 80. I'm going to show you the actual cost of a PS5. I'm even going to show you the same model. We're going to go to product info. What would be the model n 1-000-00-3967. Go to GameStop. com, paste in the model n 99. With tax, it's about $552. 49. That's a difference of $311. 31 from the so-called same-ass cash price, or $1,417. 78 from the standard Renna Center price. And don't forget, we're missing sales tax and rental fees from the Renna Center price. They won't include that price until you're signing the actual agreement with them, so we actually don't know the whole true price with Renna Center. I know what you're about to say. But Ruben, you check the price of a PS5. That's not it. We know Renna Center is going to overcharge for a PS5. It's a want. Okay, then let's go with another example. And I'll be friendlier to Renna Center. I'll give them a break, okay? I'll find somet Now It took a w I had to do all the math and figure it out before even selecting it. Okay, once again, we're on rennescenter. com and we're going to get a washer and dryer. T And to make it more fair with Renna Center, I'm going to pick a brand name washer and dryer. The LG 5-Cubit Foot Top Load Washer and 7. 3-Cubit Foot Electric Dryer in black. It's pretty nice, right? At $31. 99 per week for 120 weeks, that's a total cost to own at $3,838. 80. Now I know I'm trying to be fair here, but 120 weeks is nearly two and a half years of payments or the Renna Center same-ass cash price of $1,699. 50. Now Renna Center is a bit tricky with finding out what the exact products were, but I found them. So, to get the exact info, we're going to see a model n Instead, let's go to specifications and manual and click on specs. It's going to pop up the actual washer and dryer model now the LG washer is WT7150CM and the LG electric dryer is DLE7150M. Now let's go to Best Buy. com. Why? It's because GameStop does not sell washer and dryers, at least not yet. Now type in the model n WT7150CM added to cart. We're going to include delivery and washer installation and required parts and we're going to include a three-year standard Geek Squad Protection Plan. And that's because if you rent to own with Renna Center, they'll actually cover any repairs because they own it until you pay it off. So with Geek Squad Protection, you're going to get the same type of coverage. Click Add to Cart. Next, the electric dryer. DLE7150M add to cart. Again, we're going to include delivery and electric dryer installation and required parts and the three-year standard Geek Squad Protection Plan. Add to cart, add to cart. Go to cart and we've got everyt Let's click check out because we want to estimate the taxes. The total cost is $2,220. 92. We're being fair everyone. That's a difference of $521. 42 from the so-called same-as-cash price in Renna Center's favor or $1,617. 88 from the standard Renna Center price in Best Buy's favor. Once again, we're missing sales tax and rental fees from Renna Center. They won't include that price until you're signing an agreement with them. So we don't know the whole price with Renna Center. Here's the t You don't get the product repairs from Renna Center if you buy the same-as-cash price from Renna Center. You don't get free delivery and you don't get free installation if you buy the same-as-cash price from Renna Center. With Best Buy, you're keeping the three-year Geek Squad Protection Plan, you're paying for the delivery and installation, and you're including the sales tax for everyt Renna Center is actually I'm going to speed run through a few examples. Michael Kors jet-set Continental Wallet $18. 99 per week for a total cost to own of $493. 74 or $211. 20 for the same-as-cash price. Real cost $178. Xbox Series X 1TB Gaming Console $34. 99 per week for a total cost to own of $1,854. 47 or $818. 91 same-as-cash price. Real cost $499. Mark Jacobs the Leather Mini Bucket Bag $21. 99 per week for a total cost of $905. 85 or $402. 60 for same-as-cash price. Real cost $325. NeuroPool 21 QBF Fridge Stainless Steel $37. 99 per week for a total cost of $3,482. 32 or $1,547. 70 same-as-cash price. Real cost $1,439. What a difference, what a scam. Now here's where those terms really come into play. On the front page of Renna Center's website, we can scroll to the bottom and see all of their terms. Here's the most important one. You will not own the merchandise until the total amount necessary to acquire owners Here'somet They don't require good credit, right? The terms also say that it does not mean or imply that no inquiry will be made of credit Renna Center does not say they won't run your credit and it might not. But it doesn't say that they're not going to check how well you can pay for the t And you want to know how they do that? They ask for references. Now when you buy somet It's usually your employer, your landlord, and a close relative or friend So what happens when you miss a payment? They don't give you a grace period. You miss a payment by one day and they start calling you. They start calling your mother. They start calling your best friend. They start calling your landlord and they even start calling your job. They say something 99 set payment t He needs to pay up immediately or you're going to have to pay for What? Excuse me? That's not true at all. What they expect is that your reference is going to get so mad at you and they're just going to call you and say, hey, hey, why aren't you paying for your stuff? And then you're going to get so upset that you're going to call Renna Center and make a payment. You're going to harass the people you put down as a reference and threaten them with the idea that they will owe money. Okay, let'say your references are smart and they dealt with they're going to do somet It's a repossession, a repo. They will come to your house and knock on your door and ask for everyt The moment someone lets them in your house, they will start taking everyt Look, I know it's in the right because they technically own the stuff you'renting. Remember, you didn't buy it outright, but the tactics they use are predatory and filled with harassment. Here are some stories I found online of former employees for Renna Center. Now, I'm going to read out my iPad here and it's going to show up on the screen and you can follow along. Someone asked, tell us a story about repossessing an entire living room set. What? W I've done it countless times. The most memorable event that comes to mind was taking everyt These people haven't paid us in weeks and have made absolutely no effort to contact us whatsoever. We would call all of their phones daily and visit the residents repeatedly. Remember that harassment? Most of the time, no one was home. If someone was home, they would not answer the door. So we decided to use a different approach. We staked out their home in an unmarked little truck on Thanksgiving. They had family over, of course, eating a full course meal on the $1,200 dining room table that they rented from us. Now a relative unaware of the situation led us in, w Remember, you don't actually buy anyt Otherwise, you're just renting it. The guests were freaking out as soon as we started taking the furniture out of the living room. We fought verbally with the residents until they felt so embarrassed they just let us take it. What a day that was. Isn'that an insane story? I mean, during Thanksgiving, you have a full family dinner and people start coming in and taking all your furniture. Yeah, pretty rough. Alright, the next story. Now someone asks, how come you can call and harass people for money? Aren't you breaking the fair debt collection practice? T No one ever reports us, so we aren't in any real damage or danger is what I t And if somet Doesn't mean we won't repeat it again later. They openly admit to overstepping boundaries saying no one ever reports them so they're not in any real danger. And if somet It doesn't mean they won't repeat it again later. They literally say, we're going to keep doing it over and over again. I mean, that's crazy. Now someone asked t What's the sc And they honestly responded, I took a DVD player from a c I took bunk beds from a child on his birthday before a sl What kind of turkey are you going to cook there? That's insane. Now t He says, yeah, we get in our trucks or van, knock on doors, generally harass people and eventually we get our stuff back. Over six years, I really honed the craft. There are a lot of t Such as, go on they say, slas And if someone lives in a mobile home, it's possible to rock it back and forth, threatening messages, setting up elaborate booby traps to take them by surprise when they try to open their door. He says, my favorite t So when they opened it from the inside, the pot would d They go on to say, these may seem What do you t Is that okay? Well, let'say that you don't pay up and they can't get you or anyone else to open the door to repo. In many states, you're going to get the police to knock on your door, just Why? It's actually theft. That's right. In some states, it's even a felony. Look, the moral of the story is if you can't afford your payments, return whatever you bought. I'm not the only one calling them sc In 2006, California Attorney General Bill Lockhear announced that a rent center will pay more than $7 million in restitution to thousands of California customers under a settlement finalized by the San Francisco County Superior Court that resolves a cons In addition to the restitution, rent center will deposit more than $7 million into a special cons The $7 million deposited into the special fund will be used solely to enforce cons That's not all. In its July 2009 complaint, the Washington Attorney General's office claimed rent center's collection practices were unfair and deceptive under Washington's Cons The state presented testimony from customers who said employees seeking to collect on debt went so far as to attempt to kick in the door of a couple's home and told an 11-year-old autistic girl being babysit that her mom could be jailed for theft. How sc And again, in 2022, California Attorney General announced a $15. 5 million settlement against rent center for violations of state cons That's twice by California in the last 25 years. I know what you're about to say. Butch Ruben, no one I know actually uses rent center. If the stories above doesn't convince you that people use rent center, last year rent center reported nearly $4 billion in revenue. It had an operating profit of $163 million and it paid its CEO, Mitchell Fidel, $10 million. It's also Rent center changed its name from rent center to up bound. I mean, it sounds more fancy, doesn't it? They describe themselves as an omnichannel platform, company committed to elevating financial opportunity for all through innovative, inclusive and technology driven financial solutions that address the evolving needs and aspirations of cons What? What does that even mean? They're They also operate more than just rent center. They own and operate a SEMA leasing acceptance now get it now home choice stores. La mejor forma de comprar rim time and color time. Other stores that are similar to rent center but aren't owned by rent center are errands, best way and buddies home furnis If you haven't guessed my opinion yet, or if I haven't made myself clear, I'm not a fan of rent center. I'm just not. I believe that rent center is sc And the truth is, you probably don't need that TV, that PS5 or even that couch today. It's better to budget, save and then buy. Personally, whenever I moved into a new place and I couldn't afford brand new furniture, I would go to Craigslist, offer up Facebook marketplace habitat for h And if you don't have any money, you can check out your local buy not Honestly, if for some reason you truly need the item and you've exhausted all other options, you're probably going to better off with a 0% finance option or dare I say it, a credit card. The hard truth is, is that most of the people who use rent center are going to end up paying more than what the PS5, that washer and dryer or even that couch costs. They offer these 90 day same as cash or 12 month same as cash options in order to get you on their payment plans. They make more money off you in the long run. Renter center says they want to build a relations Of course, they want you rent everyt The more you rent, the more money they make. And honestly, I didn't really want to get into t Remember, they don't include sales tax, but why is it that some zip codes of wash and dryer cost 3199 per week for 120 weeks, but the same wash and dryer cost 3399 per week for 123 weeks elsewhere. It doesn't seem 97 for the total agreement or a difference of $808. 96 in same as cash price. It's just weird. Renter center and rent to own places are a scam and they prey on people who either don't know better or feel Their practices are deceptive and at times unlawful. And those aren't my words. Those are the words of an attorney general, legal people. Look, it's a two part solution, one part responsibility and one part better business practices. The first part, I hope that after watc And honestly, I hope that millions of people watch the second part, I hope that we can get some more control over how these stores are allowed to operate so that they don't have deceptive marketing or unlawful practices. And as always, please click that like button and Peace out.